ARTICLE

Why We’re Continuing to Invest in Beekeeper

Energize participates in $50M Series C

by:
Juan Muldoon

Energize is excited to share a new milestone in our partnership with Beekeeper, the frontline success platform for the deskless workforce. Energize joined the company’s $50 million Series C financing along with existing investors Thayer, SwissCanto, Keen Ventures, Alpana and Verve Capital, and new investors including EGSB and Kreos Capital. The funding brings Beekeeper’s total capital raised to more than $100 million, and marks Energize’s third investment in the company. Energize’s Juan Muldoon will maintain his seat on Beekeeper’s board. Beekeeper will put the new capital towards product development, hiring new talent and expanding their market leadership.

Supporting the Efficacy and Safety of Essential Workers

Since Energize’s initial investment in Beekeeper in 2019, the world has widely accepted that frontline workers are essential – and that giving them the tools and resources to succeed is fundamental to healthy operations. The COVID-19 pandemic and the past year’s rising inflation and labor shortages have spotlighted the pivotal role that frontline workers play in enabling the global economy, as well as the hazards that come with an absent or disempowered frontline workforce. For these reasons and more, Energize is proud to continue supporting Beekeeper, the collaboration platform that supports the frontline workforce by helping workers be more agile, productive and safe. Beekeeper’s Frontline Success System, a mobile-first platform, offers a single point of contact for the deskless workforce, increasing the resiliency of frontline businesses by providing communication tools and resources in real-time.

Amid the volatile landscape of recent years, Beekeeper’s continuous product innovations have made them a leader in the emerging frontline success category. The team is pairing this latest funding with the debut of a new product suite geared toward addressing the disconnect between frontline workers and employers. Their newly upgraded Frontline Success System includes capabilities for employee referrals, onboarding, safety management and the “Frontline Workspace” – a core feature that provides frontline workers with two-way communication with colleagues, intuitive tools for working more efficiently, and easy access to work schedules, pay slips and trainings.

Powering Frontline Strategies for Critical Industries

As Energize hones our climate software investment thesis, we believe Beekeeper can play a crucial role in helping the energy sector replace its historically analog processes with digital solutions. We are excited about the value that Beekeeper’s platform can provide workers in energy and other critical industries such as logistics and construction as the sustainability transition accelerates. Eighty percent of the global workforce is deskless, with high concentrations among the manufacturing, logistics and construction industries. Frontline labor in these industries is also at a premium, given the aging workforce and skilled labor required. For instance, the renewables sector relies on technicians, electricians and other skilled field workers to efficiently deploy assets at the forefront of tech innovation. By bridging siloes between field workers and central operations, Beekeeper’s platform enhances the speed and efficacy of climate solutions. Many of the energy industry’s leading Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) firms as well as several O&M service providers already use Beekeeper to power their frontline strategy.

Beekeeper’s team, led by CEO and co-founder Cristian Grossmann, has seized the market opportunity, growing their client base within energy and industrials by seven times since Energize’s initial investment. After initially focusing on enterprise-level retail and hospitality clients, Beekeeper has significantly diversified their revenue and expanded their customer base to include SMBs. The software platform emerged from the pandemic as an enduring provider of frontline solutions, more than doubling their revenue since the beginning of the pandemic.

Looking Ahead: Leading the Way for Frontline-Focused Technology

Beekeeper has been expanding their team across the U.S. and Europe to help propel their commercial team, with recent executive hires including Kevin McKeown, Chief Revenue Office; Sarah Moore, Chief Marketing Officer; and Shawn Lim, VP of Customer Success. Moving forward, Beekeeper will prioritize growth and product development to continue building the future for frontline success and bolstering the employee experience for deskless workers.

We are thrilled to continue working with Beekeeper as they drive change at the frontlines of our most critical issues and industries.

This article represents the views of the author and is provided for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be, and should not be construed as, an offer, solicitation or recommendation with respect to any transaction and should not be treated as legal advice, investment advice or tax advice. Readers should not rely upon this information as a substitute for obtaining specific legal or tax advice from their own professional legal or tax advisors. References to specific securities and their issuers are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended and should not be interpreted as recommendations to purchase or sell such securities. Information is subject to change based on market or other conditions.